New! Learning from Yesterday . . . Today

Take advantage of the many resorces available in our Education section in addition to these other suggestions for pre- and post-visit activites

All grades:

Join the Teacher Community. Find free resources including lesson ideas before and after your trip to Williamsburg, share experiences with peers, and keep up with all things civics, history and Colonial Williamsburg.

Subscribe to the Teacher Gazette, issued monthly during the school year. Each issue contains a variety of information geared for the education audience: news from the teaching world, teaching strategies and tidbits from Colonial Williamsburg staff, primary sources, updates and information about Electronic Field Trips, and other Colonial Williamsburg educational materials.

Have students view Williamsburg: Story of a Patriot and follow the story of John Frye (a fictional character) during the crucial period when colonists resisted British taxation without representation, met force with force, and chose revolution. After the film, have students discuss the pros and cons of Independence.

Tour the Town is an interactive tour of the Colonial Williamsburg experience to use on your computer, tablet or most smartphones. Have students visit specific areas of curiosity and prepare questions to ask in the Revolutionary City.

Lower elementary grades K-3:

Travel to the 18th century where you will meet tradespeople, members of royalty, plantation owners, slaves, red coats, the militia, farmers, colonial children and more by visiting The Kids Zone. This site offers games, activities and resources about life in colonial America.

Do the Daily Jigsaw puzzle and see images that prepare you for the people you may encounter and experiences you may have while touring the Revolutionary City.

Fill in a KWL chart prior to your visit to Colonial Williamsburg. Questions answered should be: what I know, what I want to know, and what I learned.

Upper elementary grades 4-5 & middle school grades 6-8

Stay up to date with Colonial Williamsburg by visiting our Daily Feature page; here you can learn a word of the day, see live webcams of the Revolutionary City, find out what happened on this date in the 1770s, and visit blogs to ask questions of the authors.

Create a student WebQuest for the American Revolution Web site. Each section of the site is linked to the material culture that tells about the events of the American Revolution and introduces the famous revolutionaries and ordinary townspeople whose lives were transformed in the late 18th century.

Analyze primary sources by going to the Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library. Here you can view York County Probate Inventories and issues of the Virginia Gazette, an 18th-century newspaper.

High school grades 9-12

Stay up to date with Colonial Williamsburg by visiting our Daily Feature page; see live webcams of the Revolutionary City, find out what happened on this date in the 1770s, and visit blogs to ask questions of the authors.

Go to Colonial Williamsburg Connect where you will be invited to take part in the ongoing debate over the duties of citizenship and the promise of democracy. Visit often to see what’s new, and to add your voice to the discussion.

Explore eWilliamsburg, which offers map-based access to a digitized selection of original manuscripts, photographs and reports documenting the research and restoration. Through exploration you can compare and contrast aerial views of the Revolutionary City from the 1920s and 1990s with that of the Frenchman’s Map of the 18th century.

Analyze primary sources by going to the Colonial Williamsburg Digital Library. Here you can view York County Probate Inventories and issues of the Virginia Gazette, an 18th-century newspaper.

Curate your own exhibit with New in the Collection. Learn the stories of the artists and owners behind singular museum acquisitions.

Subscribe to "The Idea of America," a digital history program, that presents our nation’s rich history from its early beginnings to the 21st century, and connects you to the inspiring story of how each generation of Americans faces challenges and makes choices that shape our nation’s history.